2. Atari 2600

Manufacturer: Atari Inc. | Release Year: 1977

This is it -- the console that our entire industry is built upon. Though it also nearly took videogames to the brink in the system’s latter years, the Atari 2600 was a certifiable phenomenon in its ascendancy as the herald of a new entertainment medium.

Shepherded to market in 1977 by visionary Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, and his head engineer Allan Alcorn, the Atari 2600 was the second home videogame console to use removable, programmable cartridges instead of being a dedicated machine like Atari's own Pong (The Fairchild F beat Atari to the punch by a year). The system was not an immediate success, though. It wasn't until 1979 when the videogame craze truly exploded did the 2600 begin its meteoric path. Atari was quick to license popular arcade games for the machine like Space Invaders, Missile Command, and Pac-Man, which also helped it become the dominant console in American living rooms. By 1982, the 2600 was a $2 billion business for Atari.

But the good times were not to last and the skyrocket trajectory of the Atari 2600 was partially to blame. With videogames white-hot, everybody wanted in. And Atari did not have any solid quality-control mechanisms in place. No game epitomizes this lack quite like E.T., a licensed title that was forced to market after a five-week development cycle. Atari took a bath on E.T. and consumers started to sour on the breath of subpar games clogging shelves. Thus began the great video game crash of 1983 which laid waste to the entire industry.

It is this incredible story, a console that is responsible for the incredible games we're playing now yet almost drove a stake through the heart of the industry.

Our Fondest Memories

"I begged Santa to get us an Atari for Christmas 1980, and my parents decided to give me my wish...but they planned it as the final present I opened by stuffing it as far behind the tree as possible. Unfortunately, I grabbed a present I probably shouldn't have, "Bowling" for the 2600...pretty much destroying any Christmastime strategy my folks planned out. I still feel guilty about that." - Craig Harris, Executive Editor, IGN Nintendo Team

"The 2600 had a lot of fabulous games, and I remember playing River Raid so much that I had a callous between my thumb and index finger from the base of the not-too-ergonomic 2600 joystick rubbing on it. But I think the game we played the most was Maze Craze, which randomly generated a new maze every game and offered some great competitive multiplayer gameplay (for its time). That was perhaps the first "party game"—at least at our house." – Andy Eddy, Editor-in-Chief, TeamXbox.com

Pac-Man
One of the most questionable ports in the history of games, Pac-Man still sold in the millions. But millions wanted to give it right back.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. is the stuff of legend -- a game so bad that it shook the industry and Atari had no choice but to bury the unwanted stock in the desert.

Space Invaders
Atari's home port of Space Invaders was close enough to the arcade blockbuster that millions of American households were floored enough to buy the console for it.

Pitfall!
Commonly credited as the genesis of the platformer genre, Pitfall! was one of the 2600's technical (and gameplay) marvels.

Atlantis
Imagic was one of the best third-party publishers for the Atari 2600 and this was their flagship game. This twitch shooter is still a blast to play today.